“Many of the nation’s top preschools have found that the magic ingredient in supporting kids and boosting their academic success is involving parents and providing intensive support to families. Christopher House, a nonprofit that runs a high-performing elementary charter school and a small network of public preschools in some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, has infused parental support into its model. And it has taken its efforts beyond the preschool years in an attempt to tackle fade-out, a problem that notoriously afflicts even top preschools. Too often, after launching kids into school far ahead of their peers, even high-quality preschools with intensive family support see students’ academic gains slowly diminish. After a few years, the effects are often hard to discern. To make the preschool magic last, the Christopher House network accepts children from newborns to fifth-graders, embracing the whole family as a part of the child’s success from one grade to the next.” (more)

“Less than a quarter of Illinois children were fully prepared to enter kindergarten in 2017, a study released Monday by the state board of education revealed. The study, known as the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), is a first-ever snapshot of kindergarten readiness in the state. Its findings are based on teacher observations of students’ skills, knowledge and behaviors in three key development areas over the first 40 days of the school year.” (more)

“A new study published in PLOS ONE by researchers from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development examined the long-term impacts of an early childhood program called the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) and found evidence suggesting that the program positively affected children’s executive function and academic achievement during adolescence. The program targeted children’s self-regulation skills while also raising the quality of inner-city Head Start classrooms serving high-risk neighborhoods in Chicago. Researchers have been following the children involved in the study since the beginning of preschool through the high school years.” (more)

“A focus on high-quality principals in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) could serve as a best-practice model for districts across the nation, according to data indicating improved student performance and principal retention. Over the past four years, as the number of strong principals in Chicago’s public schools has increased, so have student outcomes. District leaders have identified increases in both reading and math scores for elementary school students and have seen significant improvements in freshman on-track and graduation rates at the high school level.” (more)

“Three different districts. Three different time zones. Three different paths to the same general goal — personalized learning. Administrators from Henry County Schools, southwest of Atlanta; School District 51 in Mesa County, Colorado; and CICS West Belden, a Chicago International Charter School campus, discussed their efforts to personalize learning during a panel at the recent iNACOL symposium in Orlando, Florida. All were between three and four years into their work. “Personalized learning” is defined differently by many of the schools and districts that employ the model, but in general, it refers to a style of teaching and learning that prioritizes student wants and needs.”(more)

“Nearly a week after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, students who can’t return to school may need to continue their education on the mainland. Some of the largest school districts in Florida, plus major cities like New York City and Chicago, are preparing for the possibility of an influx of students from the island. In South Florida, Miami-Dade County public schools are already working to accommodate students who need to transfer from Puerto Rico.”(more)